Flares During Menstruation

[Machair]

I was wondering if anyone has flares during their period. I get really bad on the worst two days which are generally days 2 and 3 of the bleeding. Being almost 51 I keep thinking I must be in menopause soon, but so far it appears not. Last night (day2) was horrific. I went to bed and had dizziness most of the night and a crashing headache, palps and tachy -the lot. I think I let myself get dehydrated yesterday which didn't help.Anyone else have this, and if you are about my age any idea when I could expect this to all end?

[aunie]

I totally have the exact same issue. In fact my last menstrual cycle threw me into an episode. I went back to not being able to stand at all for two days because the dizziness and HR were so bad. I am gradually getting back on my feet. Although I am not around your same age, I really can't help you there as I am only 27, but youre definitely not the only one having major worsening of symptoms during their cycles. I have contemplated ablation, but I think hormones have a lot to do with it and that wouldn't solve that.

[ladyt]

Hi..

In general my best period is from ovulation to the day before my period. My worst days are often during my period. Like now i on the second day, and in bed.

[lieze]

My worst week is the one leading up to my period.

It usually seems out of the blue and I think where did this come from and then I start and get a bit of relief.

[jem15]

Yea, my symptoms always tend to get worse about a week or so before my period and into the first few heavy days. It's funny cause sometimes it will still surprise me.. I'll be like, why am I so faint today or so much dizzier.. and then realize period is coming soon. Sometimes even right before I get it, I'll suddenly get really hot/faint, or have a small vertigo episode and shortly after when I go to the bathroom, there's the period! it's the strangest thing.. though I hear it's common for POTS , as well as other conditions, to worsen with menstruation. I've learned the medical term for it is "menstrual magnification".

[Brye]

Week before for me too is usually the worst. I'm generally exhausted but that week before I feel like I literally am dragging my feet on the ground when I walk.

Brye

[Nikki]

I definitely feel a LOT worst. The dizziness gets horrible around that time..If I'm already feeling bad, it makes me feel worse, if I've been feeling good - that will be the thing to ruin it. I always dread that time.

[targs66]

I have wondered whether the hormonal fluctuation exacerbates dysautonomia? A lot of women seem to have serious problems as they go through menopause.

I had a hysterectomy (including ovaries) almost 3 years ago, which brought on instant menopause at the age of 45, and it made me about a million times worse than I already was. I was tired before, but as long as I had enough sleep, I could do very physical things. I was still working part-time and horsebackriding 2-3 times a week.

After my surgery, I healed very quickly but went downhill - just felt weaker and weaker, and then the dizziness started. I've been on HRT since the surgery but have never felt hormonally balanced - I still get hot flashes at night. I tried bio-identical hormones but felt much worse so I'm taking the dreaded Premarin. I don't think it's good for me, but I can't wean off it. The hot flashes seem to make my BP and heartrate go completely haywire. I'm so hypersensitive to meds and I think the Premarin is no exception, but I can't NOT take it.

Sorry, that's not very clear, but I'm not coherent today. My point is that I think that the hormonal changes during menstruation and menopause make the dysautonomia symptoms much worse.

[shoegal]

I'm having this now, makes my chest feel tight too when I have cramps. Glad I'm not alone but wish it wasn't so scary

[enko]

Sometimes I get headache and stomach pain before I get my period. But first 3-4 days are just awful.. On day 5 I feel better and don't bleed so much, but my period lasts for 8 or even more days so at the end I'm feeling really awful, drained and agitated cause it's giving me huge problems. Headaches, stomach pain, huge blood loss, weakness (I start to shake and sleep much more).. Not to mention that I feel really edgy and anxious and don't stand that anyone even touches me. Then again, there are some months when it's so confusing that I'm not even sure do I have it or not.. I know that it's supposed to come around that time (it's never 28 days, more 21) but it looks like a prolonged weak start and lasts for 10 or more days.. Sometimes my doc gives me estrogen pills, it levels it up a bit, but then everything goes back to abnormal "normal". Well, I'm never "bored" with it..

[Friedbrain]

A really great link that may help you understand hormone fluctuations in relation to symptomology:

http://professionals.epilepsy.com/page/catamenial_patterns.html

While it is an epilepsy site, it has great diagrams of hormone changes across the month, and explains how differences can be related to problems. I learned about this 8 ys ago, when I realized that my period started in the hospital BOTH times I was there, a month apart! Ie, brain blows up, then tada period starts.... So almost from the start, I was aware that I had catamenial epilepsy. And over the years, I've noticed constellations of symptoms associated with different parts of the month. In short, estrogen is "proconvulsant", or excitatory in the brain, whereas progesterone is counter that. So, at the end of the month, when estrogen is still elevated, my progesterone drops, leaving my brain more vulnerable/excitable. For this reason (thank you internet support groups), I took the baby birth control pill that was progesterone only, and it did help calm my brain during that time. A stoopid doctor I went to after a move scolded me and told me to get off it (wasn't clinically proven etc). Maybe I should go back on it....!

And I have, in fact, had problems with progesterone. I had an early miscarriage, and during a subsequent pregnancy, found out that my progesterone was too low to support pregnancy, so had to take progesterone supplements during the first trimesters of both my (successful) pregnancies. I also sometimes have problems during ovulation (different ones usually, like trouble urinating), which maybe happens because of the dramatic increase in estrogen without enough progesterone. I'm trying to be more diligent about tracking my other symptoms. It's quite logical that during months when my symptoms "are outside of their normal window", it's maybe because my progesterone simply isn't high enough at all see Fig. b.

Heck, typing this, I wonder if I should see an OB/GYN and have my female hormones checked. Fwiw, it was a reproductive specialist who first discovered it, not my normal OB.

[enko]

you're right, I think it was progesterone based pills, not estrogen. I think. Yeah, guess it was progesterone.